Predicting the exact number of transactions per second (TPS) required for a blockchain to scale globally in the future is challenging, as it depends on various factors, such as global adoption, use cases, and technological advancements. However, we can make an estimation by comparing current payment systems and the expected increase in demand for digital transactions.
Currently, the Visa payment network, one of the largest centralized payment systems globally, can handle around 24,000 TPS at its peak capacity. Given that Visa is only one of many global payment providers, a blockchain network aiming to replace or compete with the traditional financial infrastructure would likely need to handle a much higher throughput.
As the world becomes more digitized and new use cases for blockchain technology emerge, it is reasonable to assume that a globally-scaled blockchain would need to support well over 100,000 TPS to accommodate a wide range of applications, such as payments, supply chain tracking, decentralized finance (DeFi), gaming, and many more.
It is essential to note that the exact TPS requirement for global scalability will depend on the level of adoption and the specific use cases of the blockchain technology in question. Additionally, the future of blockchain scalability may rely on a combination of interconnected networks and layer 2 solutions rather than a single blockchain handling all transactions.
In summary, while it is difficult to pinpoint an exact TPS figure, a globally-scaled blockchain in the future might need to support well over 100,000 TPS to accommodate a wide range of use cases and facilitate the growing demand for digital transactions.
To determine the current TPS of most blockchains, you can look at realtps.net. Solana blockchain has reached as high as 50k+ TPS in testing environments, and after improvements to the network in 2023/2024 via Firedancer client, we should see over 500k+ TPS possible.